Herbicide Turns Male Frogs to Females

Research headed up by a professor at the University of California – Berkeley, has determined that exposure to the herbicide Atrazine turns male frogs into females.

The research was led by Dr. Tyrone Hayes, a biology professor at Berkeley. Dr. Hayes has been studying the effects of this herbicide for over a decade.

Atrazine – ethylaminoisopropylaminotriazine – is the second-most popular herbicide after glyphosphate (Roundup). It is used on about 90% of sugarcane crops and about half of the corn grown in the U.S.

Dr. Hayes’ research began under the funding of Atrazine’s then-owner, Novartis in 1997. Dr. Hayes found that frogs exposed to 1/30th of the amount the EPA allows in our drinking water shrunk the voice boxes of frogs.

After his resignation from the research team, Dr. Hayes continued his research, and found that when frogs are exposed to levels of Atrazine at levels close to what is allowed by the EPA in drinking water – which is often exceeded – male frogs began to produce less testosterone and more estrogen. Over time, the frogs, exposed to 25 parts per billion, began to show signs of demasculinity.

Levels of Atrazine in runoff waters from agriculture have been known to reach 40 parts per billion.

After ten years of additional research, together with a team of scientists, Dr. Hayes established – using rigorous protocols – that male frogs, fish and reptiles all became demasculinized after exposure to Atrazine. After conclusive and extensive research, the research team concluded that:

A 2009 investigation by the New York Times revealed that 33 million Americans have Atrazine in their drinking water. 2010 EPA data reveals contamination levels exceeding the federal limit in nine of ten states that monitor Atrazine levels. And a number of water districts in the Midwest have reported nine to 18 times the limit in their water supplies.

This – Atrazine contaminating water supplies – is one of the reasons that the European Union banned Atrazine in 2003.

Epidemiological studies have found that prenatal Atrazine exposure is linked to birth defects and preemie babies, even when exposure levels are low.

An EPA advisory panel on Atrazine characterized this epidemiological evidence as “strong” last July.

Investigations by the Huffington Post found that over half of the papers the EPA has relied on to approve Atrazine’s use were those from researchers with a financial interest in Atrazine, while less than 20% of the research was peer-reviewed.

Case Adams is a California Naturopath with a PhD in Natural Health Sciences, and Board Certified Alternative Medicine Practitioner. He has authored 26 books on natural healing strategies. “My journey into writing about alternative medicine began about 9:30 one evening after I finished with a patient at the clinic I practiced at over a decade ago. I had just spent the last two hours explaining how diet, sleep and other lifestyle choices create health problems and how changes in these, along with certain herbal medicines and other natural strategies can radically yet safely turn ones health around. As I drove home that night, I realized I needed to get this knowledge out to more people. So I began writing about health with a mission to reach those who desperately need this information. The strategies in my books and articles are backed by scientific evidence along with wisdom handed down through traditional medicines for thousands of years.” Case connects with nature by surfing, hiking, running, biking and according to his Dad, being a beach bum.